Supracrestal gingival tissue measurement in normal periodontium: a human histometric study.

Twenty-four teeth were extracted en bloc with the marginal periodontal structures and processed for histologic purposes. Measurements were taken from the top of the gingival margin to the apical limit of the junctional epithelium (GM-JE), from the apical limit of the junctional epithelium to the top of the alveolar bone crest (JE-AB), and from the top of the gingival margin to the top of the alveolar bone crest (GM-AB). Data were histometrically analyzed. This first clinical human study demonstrated mean measurements of 1.58 ± 0.41 mm for GM-JE, 1.18 ± 0.42 mm for JE-AB, and 2.75 ± 0.59 mm for GM-AB.